Written by Jennifer Walsh. Reviewed for technical accuracy by Shubham Dixit, Independent Expert in Email Forensics and Data File Conversion. Updated 18 September 2026.
Shubham is an independent external reviewer and not an employee of PCDOTS.
Quick answer. AOL Mail runs on IMAP, so you migrate it to Exchange Online three ways. An admin can run Microsoft 365’s IMAP migration, which pulls the mail from AOL into the new mailboxes in bulk. One user can add both accounts in Outlook and drag the mail across. Or a tool does it with contacts and calendar. Every route needs an AOL app password, since the normal one won’t connect.
On this page
- How do you migrate AOL to Exchange Online?
- What do you set up before you start?
- How do admins migrate AOL with Microsoft 365’s IMAP migration?
- How do you migrate AOL in Outlook, per user?
- How do you migrate AOL contacts and calendar?
- How do you migrate AOL to Exchange Online with a tool?
- Which method should you use?
- Frequently asked questions
How do you migrate AOL to Exchange Online?
AOL Mail runs on the IMAP protocol, at imap.aol.com. Exchange Online is the hosted mail in Microsoft 365, which many people call Office 365. People move for a business domain, calendars they can share and the mail on OWA and phones. Because AOL speaks IMAP, moving the mail across is a solved job.
Three routes do it. An admin runs Microsoft 365’s IMAP migration to pull every mailbox in bulk. A single user adds both accounts in Outlook and drags the mail over. Or a tool moves the mail plus the contacts and calendar.
Start with the setup below, since all three need it. Then the admin route, the per-user route and the tool follow.
AOL runs on IMAP, so three routes carry the mail into Exchange Online.
“The first thing I tell people is that AOL needs an app password now, the normal one just fails at sign-in. Once that’s sorted, the route depends on scale. For one mailbox I add AOL and the 365 account in Outlook and drag the mail over. For a team I set up the Microsoft 365 IMAP migration, hand it a CSV of the app passwords and let Microsoft pull the mail into the new mailboxes. The catch with that native migration is it moves email only, so contacts and calendar come across on their own, or a tool carries the lot in one pass.” Shubham Dixit, Email Migration reviewer (draft, pending approval)
What do you set up before you start?
Before any route, get AOL and Exchange Online ready. Two things trip people up, the AOL app password and the target mailboxes.
Before you migrate
- AOL app password. AOL rejects the normal password for other apps. Sign in to AOL, open Account Security, turn on 2-Step Verification, then Generate app password.
- AOL server. IMAP is imap.aol.com on port 993 with SSL. That’s the server the migration and Outlook both connect to.
- Exchange Online. Create the users and assign licenses first, so the target mailboxes exist before the mail arrives.
How do admins migrate AOL with Microsoft 365’s IMAP migration?
Admins migrate AOL in bulk with Microsoft 365’s IMAP migration, built into the Exchange admin center. You point it at AOL, hand it a list of users and Microsoft pulls the mail into the new mailboxes.
Here are the five steps.
- In the Exchange admin center, open Migration, then Endpoints, then Add an IMAP endpoint with imap.aol.com.
- Build a CSV with a row per user. The header is
EmailAddress,UserName,Password, where Password is the AOL app password. - Open Migration, Add migration batch, then Migrate to Exchange Online, then select IMAP migration.
- Choose the endpoint, upload the CSV, then exclude any folders you don’t need.
- Start the batch. Microsoft syncs the mail, and you complete it once the new mailboxes are current.
For a team I set up this IMAP migration and let it pull the mail, which is far steadier than dragging folders by hand. It moves email only, up to 500,000 items a mailbox and 35 MB a message, so contacts and calendar come across separately. Under 50 mailboxes, the Microsoft 365 admin center has a simpler wizard, which Microsoft documents.
Two tips while it runs. Have people use one mail client until the batch finishes, since two open at once can create duplicates. Run a large mailbox off-hours to avoid throttling. When the mail is in, finish the move by forwarding new AOL mail to the 365 mailbox, or by updating the MX record if the address is on your own domain.
Create the endpoint, upload the CSV, start the batch, then Microsoft syncs the mail.
How do you migrate AOL in Outlook, per user?
You migrate one AOL mailbox in Outlook by adding both accounts and dragging the mail across. It suits a single user, without an admin or the migration batch.
Here are the four steps.
- In Outlook, File, Add Account, add the AOL account with its app password. Settings are imap.aol.com, port 993, SSL.
- File, Add Account again, then add the Exchange Online account and sign in.
- Open the AOL mailbox in the sidebar, then select the folders and mail to move.
- Drag them into the Exchange Online mailbox, and Outlook uploads them.
How do you migrate AOL contacts and calendar?
You migrate the AOL contacts and calendar on their own, because the IMAP migration carries email only. It’s a quick extra step, not a blocker.
For contacts, open AOL Contacts, export them as a CSV, then import that file into Microsoft 365 under People. For the calendar, export the AOL calendar as an ICS file and import it into the Microsoft 365 calendar. Both land in the same account as the mail.
How do you migrate AOL to Exchange Online with a tool?
You migrate AOL to Exchange Online with a tool when you want the mail, contacts and calendar in one pass, or you’d rather skip the CSV and admin center. It connects to AOL and uploads to the Exchange mailbox for you.
PCDOTS Email Backup Wizard signs in to AOL with the app password and migrates the mailbox to Exchange Online over IMAP, on Windows, with the folders, attachments, contacts and calendar. It maps accounts and filters by date or sender. The free trial migrates a sample first. Follow these four steps.
- Install and run PCDOTS Email Backup Wizard, then Open and Add Account.
- Enter the AOL address and app password, then Add.
- Open Export and select IMAP for the Exchange Online account.
- Enter the hosted address and password, then Save to start.
The tool route, AOL migrated to Exchange Online with contacts and calendar.
Here are the first steps with the screens.
Step 1. Install and run PCDOTS Email Backup Wizard.
Step 2. Open and Add Account.
Step 3. Open Export and select IMAP for Exchange Online.
Related reading, our guides to import MBOX to Exchange and add AOL email to Outlook. Moving elsewhere? See move AOL email to iCloud.
The native migration carries email, so contacts and calendar go over on their own or with a tool.
Which method should you use?
Use the IMAP migration for a team, Outlook for one mailbox and a tool to carry contacts and calendar too.
| Method | Best for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 IMAP migration | A team of mailboxes | Admin, CSV, email only |
| Outlook bridge | One mailbox | Free, drag and drop |
| Email Backup Wizard | Mail with contacts | Windows, maps and filters |
Key takeaways
- AOL runs on IMAP, so an AOL app password is needed for every route, the normal one won’t connect.
- Admins run Microsoft 365’s IMAP migration from the Exchange admin center with a CSV of users.
- One user can add AOL and the 365 account in Outlook and drag the mail across.
- The IMAP migration moves email only, so import contacts and calendar, or use a tool.
Frequently asked questions
Can I migrate AOL to Exchange Online directly?
Yes, with Microsoft 365’s IMAP migration. It connects to imap.aol.com and pulls the mail into the new mailboxes. AOL has no built-in migration of its own, so this or a tool does the direct move.
Why won’t my AOL password work?
AOL no longer accepts the normal password for other apps. Turn on 2-Step Verification in AOL Account Security, generate an app password and use that for the migration or Outlook.
Does the IMAP migration move contacts and calendar?
No. Microsoft’s IMAP migration moves email only. Export the AOL contacts as a CSV and the calendar as an ICS, then import both into Microsoft 365. A tool carries them too.
Do I need Outlook to migrate AOL?
Only for the per-user drag method. The IMAP migration runs in the Exchange admin center, and a tool connects on its own, so neither needs Outlook.
What is AOL’s IMAP server?
imap.aol.com on port 993 with SSL for incoming mail, and smtp.aol.com on port 465 or 587 for outgoing. The migration uses the IMAP server to read the mail.
Which domains does this cover?
The same steps work for AOL addresses on aol.com, aim.com and the Verizon.net accounts AOL now runs, since they all use AOL’s IMAP server.
So how are you moving off AOL?
Migrating AOL to Exchange Online comes down to IMAP and an app password. An admin runs Microsoft 365’s IMAP migration for a team, one user drags the mail across in Outlook and a tool carries the contacts and calendar with the mail. Remember the native migration moves email only, so plan for the rest. So how are you moving off AOL, a bulk IMAP migration, or a single mailbox in Outlook?
